Page 6 of Take My Heart
‘Honey, you’re not making any sense. Just come home and you can take a nice relaxing bath, drink some tea, and get some rest. You’ve been so stressed getting ready for this wedding and I know you haven’t been sleeping. Once you’ve had some rest, you’ll see things differently.’
She’s not listening. She never does. Neither does my dad. They’re like Cam that way. Why am I surrounded by people who don’t listen to me?
‘Mom, I have to go.’ I get my wipers going as big flakes of snow start to fall. ‘I’ll talk to you when I’m back.’
‘But Kate, when are you—’
I end the call, not wanting to argue with her. This is why I had to leave Chicago. I didn’t want to spend the next few days having everyone assure me that Cam and I will work this out. I don’t want to work it out. I don’t love him.
As I continue to drive, the snow gets heavier. The navigation system says there’s an accident up ahead. It directs me off the interstate to a county highway.
‘Shit,’ I mutter as the car swerves on a patch of ice. I grip the steering wheel and turn the window defrost up to high. It’s snowing so hard I can no longer see what’s in front of me. Thewind is so strong I can feel it trying to push the car off the road. I can’t see where I’m going or if anything’s around me.
The car hits another slippery spot and fishtails. I panic and oversteer in my attempt to keep the tires on the road. I feel the car spin, then slide backwards into the ditch.
I thought this day couldn’t possibly get any worse, but here I am, stranded in a ditch in the middle of a blizzard.
Chapter 2
Brody
‘Be careful,’ Mom says.
‘Mom, I’m in a truck with a snowplow,’ I remind her. ‘If anyone’s safe, it’s me. And besides, there’s nobody out here. The roads are empty.’
‘Yes, Sawyer just called and said he’s not opening the brewery. Gina’s not opening hers either, knowing how bad the storm’s going to be.’
‘It’s a lot worse than they predicted.’ I slow down as I feel the truck slide on a patch of ice. ‘Mom, I gotta go.’
‘Okay, but remember, be safe.’
‘I will.’ I end the call as a gust of wind slams into my truck. Snow blows over my windshield, blinding my view. I get the wipers going faster, but the cold air instantly freezes the snow, frosting up the glass and making it even harder to see.
Turning up the radio, I hear the beeping sound of a weather alert. ‘We are currently under a winter weather emergency,’ the automated voice says. ‘Roads are one hundred percent snowand ice covered. The state patrol is asking that all vehicles stay off the roads at this time.’
I slow down as a gust of wind dumps more snow on my windshield.
My phone rings. It’s Sawyer, my older brother, calling.
‘Hey, what do you need?’ I say, answering the call.
‘You out on the roads?’
‘Yeah, but I’m heading home. I can’t see a damn thing out here.’
‘I was just calling to tell you they want everyone off the roads.’
‘Yeah, I heard.’ I feel my truck fishtail as it goes over a patch of ice. ‘I gotta go. It’s really bad out here. I need to pay attention.’
‘Yeah, be safe.’
I grip the steering wheel, peering through the sliver of windshield that’s not covered in snow and ice.
‘What the hell is that?’
There’s something in the road just up ahead. I squint, trying to see it better. It’s moving up and down, which is odd because the wind is blowing everything sideways. Maybe it’s some kind of animal. A dog? It looks too tall to be a dog. Maybe a deer?
I slow down as I get closer.
